I had the pleasure of answering a few questions for Meghan over at The Creative Unconscious. Thanks for the opportunity Meghan!
Filtering by Category: Top Ten Albums,IC Feature
Better late than never, our 2015 Top Ten Albums are up. Listen to the playlist over at Spotify.
Don Clark / 2015 Top Ten Albums
Ryan Clark / 2015 Top Ten Albums
Josh Cross / 2015 Top Ten Albums
Best Track: "Lifted Up (1985)"
Always epic and often controversial, The 2014 IC Top Ten Album Lists are here! Check out our Rdio playlist containing every album except (sadly) T. Swift.
Don Clark / 2014 Top Ten Albums
Ryan Clark / 2014 Top Ten Albums
Ryan Clark / 2014 Top Ten Metal Albums
Zac Schwiet / 2014 Top Ten Albums
Josh Cross / 2014 Top Ten Albums
Last year we received a call from our favorite software company, asking us if we'd like to preview the soon-to-be-released Illustrator CC. The one caveat was that we had to create whatever we wanted and document how we did it. Our answer? A resounding 'Awesome!' and "Uh-oh, what are we going to create?" There were no guidelines, save for a few key words: Modern, fearless and reborn. Adobe's theme for the new release.
Since we had just recently bought a farm outside of the city, we were in the thick of having our normal lives turned upside down - yet at the same time, we were having a blast with our new lifestyle. 'Reality. Reborn.' is inspired by that personal transition ... blended together nicely with the amazing new features of Illustrator CC and Adobe's willingness to give us carte blanche on creative direction.
We've been using Adobe's products for almost 20 years now and rely extensively on their tools to create our projects. Huge thanks to Terry Hemphill and the Adobe team for asking us to do this. We had a lot of fun with CC's great new features.
Without further ado, download Adobe's awesome iPad magazine, Inspire to check it all out - or read it online. And to top it all off, grab the mega-huge uber-limited 25" x 46" poster in our shop now.
Read about how we went from sketch phase to final color blocking ... and how our process always evolves as we work.
One of the coolest new features in CC is the Multiple File Place tool, allowing you to adjust the size of your file before dropping them on the artboard.
CC's new Touch Type tool is especially great as well, allowing you to manipulate and edit individual characters without creating outlines.
Those are just 2 of my favorite new features. Read about the rest. A few details below:
... and pick up the giant 25" x 46" poster in the shop now for only $40.
It's an absolute honor to be interviewed by The Great Discontent. Cozy up with that brand new iPad from Grandma and have a read. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
listen to our playlist over at rdio ...
Ryan Clark:
Don Clark:
Zac Schwiet:
Ryan's Top Ten Metal:
Is there still a role for designers in the music industry? We're honored to be amongst 7 studios interviewed and featured in IdN's Music Graphic issue.
Recorded music has always been packaged, from the very earliest days when wax cylinders came in cardboard tubes, and has therefore always involved designers. In the palmy days of vinyl LPs with sometimes stunning cover art and often erudite liner notes, the presentation was almost as important as the product.
But with the industry morphing so rapidly into the field of digital-download delivery, where do the graphics come in now? This is a burning question for all those working in the area of visually representing music. To see what their answers are, read this feature story, which solicits the views of seven specialist music designers.
Featuring: Telegramme Studio | Invisible Creature, Inc. | IWant Design | Daniel Reed | Matteo Meta | Leif Podhajsky | Giottographica
// Grab a copy here.
We're honored to be part of the fantastic new book Kern and Burn: Conversations With Design Entrepreneurs curated by Tim Hoover and Jessica Karle Heltzel. Featuring Aaron Draplin, Heads Of State, Arman Vit and many others.
'Kern and Burn: Conversations With Design Entrepreneurs' is a beautiful two-color book that features candid conversations with 30 leading designers who have founded startups, channeled personal passions into self-made careers and taken risks to do what they love. In this book they share their failures, successes, and perspectives. Our hope is that you can learn from them — not to follow in their footsteps, but to chart your own course in parallel, one that allows you to thrive, add value to the world and love what you do.
The entire Kern and Burn project was brought to life by a successful Kickstarter campaign, but here's where it all started. Tim and Jessica's spirit and passion for this book is an inspiration, pick up a copy if you can!
Honored to be featured in Print's 2012 Regional Design Annual. Gigantic thanks goes to our favorite clients over at Target inHouse.
Design Bureau Magazine asks us a few questions in their latest issue. Featuring K-Rash like a boss on the cover.
It's that time of year again. The infamous IC 'Top Ten Albums' of 2011. Get your hate mail ready ...
Ryan:
1. White Lies "Ritual" 2. Young Galaxy "Shapeshifting" 3. Chapel Club "Palace" 4. Jamie Woon "Mirrorwriting" 5. Bon Iver "Bon Iver" 6. Nero "Welcome Reality" 7. Elbow "Build A Rocket Boys!" 8. The Joy Formidable "The Big Roar" 9. My Morning Jacket "Circuital" 10. Graveyard "Hisingen Blues"
Don:
1. Young Galaxy "Shapeshifting" 2. Phantogram "Nightlife EP" 3. Active Child "You Are All I See" 4. Foster The People "Torches" 5. The Joy Formidable "The Big Roar" 6. Austra "Feel It Break" 7. Adele "21" 8. Mat Kearney "Young Love" 9. Jay-Z & Kanye West "Watch The Throne" 10. Mastodon "The Hunter"
Zac:
1. Tycho "Dive" 2. Mat Kearney "Young Love" 3. Nero "Welcome Reality" 4. Young Galaxy "Shapeshifting" 5. Friendly Fires "Pala" 6. Needtobreathe "The Reckoning" 7. White Lies "Rituals" 8. Mirrors "Lights And Offerings" 9. The Joy Formidable "The Big Roar" 10. Phantogram "Nightlife EP"
Don:
Ryan:
Love 'em or hate 'em ... our 2009 Top Tens have arrived.
Don:
1. Imogen Heap Ellipse 2. Coalesce OX 3. John Mayer Battle Studies 4. Miike Snow Miike Snow 5. Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 6. Wilco The Album 7. Paper Route Absence 8. Mute Math Armistice 9. Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix 10. Mindy Smith Stupid Love
Top Ten "Honorable Mention"
1. Throwdown Deathless 2. Mastodon Crack The Skye 3. Switchfoot Hello Hurricane 4. Metric Fantasies 5. U2 No Line On The Horizon 6. The Boxer Rebellion Union 7. Blacklist Midnight Of The Century 8. I Am X Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction 9. Editors In This Light And On This Evening 10. Hot Leg Red Light Fever
Ryan:
1. White Lies To Lose My Life 2. Bat For Lashes Two Suns 3. Alice In Chains Black Gives Way To Blue 4. Metric Fantasies 5. Living Things Habeas Corpus 6. I Am X Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction 7. Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix 8. Miike Snow Miike Snow 9. Dredg The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion 10. Depeche Mode Sounds Of The Universe
Top Ten "Honorable Mention"
1. Doves Kingdom Of Rust 2. Paper Route Absence 3. Temper Trap Conditions 4. Blacklist Midnight Of The Century 5. Biffy Clyro Only Revolutions 6. Editors In This Light And On This Evening 7. Imogen Heap Ellipse 8. Grammatics Grammatics 9. Silversun Pickups Swoon 10. Prodigy Invaders Must Die
Ryan's Top Ten Metal:
1. Throwdown Deathless 2. Bury Your Dead It's Nothing Personal 3. Coalesce OX 4. Mastodon Crack The Skye 5. The Ascendicate To Die As Kings 6. Napalm Death Time Waits For No Slave 7. Karnivool Sound Awake 8. Unholy New Life Behind Closed Eyes 9. Scar Symmetry Dark Matter Dimensions 10. Devil Driver Pray For Villains
Not a bad year for music! Yeah, yeah, yeah ... we realize there are a few more releases that are coming out before the end of the year. But are any of them good? Exactly. That being said, read 'em and weep. Don:
2008 TOP TEN
1. Portishead "Third" 2. The Night Marchers "See You In Magic" 3. Kings Of Leon "Only By The Night" 4. People In Planes "Beyond The Horizon" 5. The Out_Circuit "Pierce The Empire With A Sound" 6. Carolina Liar "Coming To Terms" 7. Copeland "You Are My Sunshine" 8. Keane "Perfect Symmetry" 9. The Helio Sequence "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" 10. Coldplay "Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends"
2008 TOP TEN HONORABLE MENTION
1. Snow Patrol "A Hundred Million Suns" 2. My Morning Jacket "Evil Urges" 3. Oasis "Dig Out Your Soul" 4. Your Vegas "S/T" 5. Secret Machines "S/T" 6. Dead Confederate "Wrecking Ball" 7. Royworld "Man In The Machine" 8. Young Widows "Old Wounds" 9. Starflyer 59 "Dial M" 10. Longwave "Secrets Are Sinister"
2008 TOP TEN METAL
1. Metallica "Death Magnetic" 2. Slipknot "All Hope Is Gone" 3. The Famine "The Raven & The Reaping" 4. Gojira "The Way Of All Flesh" 5. All That Remains "Overcome" 6. Bury Your Dead "S/T" 7. Scar Symmetry "Holographic Universe" 8. Meshuggah "ObZen" 9. Becoming The Archetype "Dichotomy" 10. Opeth "Watershed"
Ryan:
2008 TOP TEN
1. Elbow "The Seldom Seen Kid" 2. Portishead "Third" 3. Kings Of Leon "Only By The Night" 4. People In Planes "Beyond The Horizon" 5. Secret Machines "Secret Machines" 6. The Night Marchers "See You In Magic" 7. The Helio Sequence "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" 8. Copeland "You Are My Sunshine" 9. My Morning Jacket "Evil Urges" 10. The Out_Circuit "Pierce The Empire With A Sound"
2008 TOP TEN HONORABLE MENTION
1. Young Widows "Old Wounds" 2. Haunts "Haunts" 3. Carolina Liar "Coming To Terms" 4. Oasis "Dig Out Your Soul" 5. Bon Iver "For Emma, Forever Ago" 6. Goldfrapp "Seventh Tree" 7. Keane "Perfect Symmetry" 8. Starflyer 59 "Dial M" 9. Stereophonics "Pull The Pin" 10. The Subways "All Or Nothing"
2008 TOP TEN METAL
1. The Famine "The Raven And The Reaping" 2. Scar Symmetry "Holographic Universe" 3. Bury Your Dead "Bury Your Dead" 4. Slipknot "All Hope Is Gone" 5. Becoming The Archetype "Dichotomy" 6. Metallica "Death Magnetic" 7. Gojira "The Way Of All Flesh" 8. Disfear "Live The Storm" 9. Meshuggah "ObZen" 10. Trenches "The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole"
Tim (Feed The Creature):
2008 TOP TEN
1. The Walkmen "You & Me" 2. Fleet Foxes "S/T" 3. The Dodos "Visiter" 4. Coldplay "Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends" 5. Kings of Leon "Only By The Night" 6. Department of Eagles "In Ear Park" 7. Vampire Weekend "Self Titled" 8. Okkervil River "The Stand-Ins" 9. Deerhunter "Microcastle" 10. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals "Cardinology"
2008 TOP TEN HONORABLE MENTION
1. My Morning Jacket "Evil Urges" 2. Oasis "Dig Out Your Soul" 3. Portishead "Third" 4. The Helio Sequence "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" 5. Kanye West "808's And Heartbreaks" 6. Wale "The Mixtape About Nothing" 7. The Raconteurs "Consolers of the Lonely" 8. Beck "Modern Guilt" 9. The Cool Kids "The Bake Sale" 10. The Notwist "The Devil, You + Me"
We realize it's still November. Let's face it, nothing good comes out in December. Read 'em and weep ... Don:
TOP TEN 1) Foo Fighters "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" 2) The Hours "Narcissus Road" 3) Machine Head "The Blackening" 4) Band Of Horses "Cease To Begin" 5) Jimmy Eat World "Chase This Light" 6) Against Me! "New Wave" 7) Blackfield "II" 8) The National "Boxer" 9) Thrice "The Alchemy Index, Volume 1 & 2" 10) Soilwork "The Great Divide"
TOP TEN (HONORABLE MENTION) 1) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club "Baby 81" 2) Relient K "Five Score And Seven Years Ago" 3) Kanye West "Graduation" 4) Travis "The Boy With No Name" 5) Athlete "Beyond The Neighbourhood" 6) Editors "An End Has A Start" 7) Aqualung "Memory Man" 8) The Shins "Wincing The Night Away" 9) Peter Bjorn & John "Writers Block" 10) Wilco "Sky Blue Sky"
TOP TEN (NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN) 1) Porter Wagoner "The Wagonmaster" 2) Maroon 5 "It Won't Be Soon Before Too Long" 3) The Cooper Temple Clause "Make This Your Own" 4) Kings Of Leon "Because Of The Times" 5) Nine Inch Nails "Year Zero" 6) Jose Gonzalez "In Our Nature" 7) Rooney "Calling The World" 8) Maximo Park "Our Earthly Pleasures" 9) Justice "Cross" 10) Linkin Park "Minutes To Midnight"
TOP TEN METAL (New!) 1) Machine Head "The Blackening" 2) Soilwork "The Great Divide" 3) Him "Venus Doom" 4) Devil Driver "The Last Kind Words" 5) Bloodsimple "Red Harvest" 6) The Agony Scene "Get Damned" 7) Throwdown "Venom & Tears" 8) Sevendust "Alpha" 9) Megadeth "United Abominations" 10) Dark Tranquility "Fiction"
Ryan:
TOP TEN 1) The Cooper Temple Clause "Make This Your Own" (import) 2) Blackfield "Blackfield II" 3) The Hours "Narcissus Road" (import) 4) Machine Head "The Blackening" 5) Editors "An End Has A Start" 6) Peter Bjorn & John "Writer's Block" 7) Dave Gahan "Hourglass" 8) Against Me! "New Wave" 9) Band Of Horses "Cease To Begin" 10) Soilwork "Sworn To A Great Divide"
TOP TEN (HONORABLE MENTION) 1) Foo Fighters "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" 2) The National "Boxer" 3) Kaiser Chiefs "Yours Truly, Angry Mob" 4)Athlete "Beyond The Neighborhood" 5) Hard-Fi "Once Upon A Time In The West" 6) Stereophonics "Pull The Pin" 7) Jimmy Eat World "Chase This Light" 8) Radiohead "In Rainbows" 9) HIM "Venus Doom" 10) Kings Of Leon "Because Of The Times"
TOP TEN (NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN) 1) Kanye West "Graduation" 2) Rooney "Calling The World" 3) Field Music "Tones Of Town" 4) Travis "The Boy With No Name" 5) Neon Horse "Neon Horse" 6) Interpol "Our Love To Admire" 7) Falling Up "Captiva" 8) Biffy Clyro "Puzzle" 9) Maximo Park "Our Earthly Pleasures" 10) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club "Baby 81"
TOP TEN METAL (New!) 1) Machine Head "The Blackening" 2) Soilwork "Sworn To A Great Divide" 3) HIM "Venus Doom" 4) Becoming The Archetype "The Physics Of Fire" 5) Devildriver "The Last Kind Words" 6) Amorphis "Silent Waters" 7) Throwdown "Venom & Tears" 8) The Agony Scene "Get Damned" 9) Bloodsimple "Red Harvest" 10) As I Lay Dying "An Ocean Between Us"
Tim (Feed The Creature):
TOP 10 1) Feist "The Reminder" 2) Peter Bjorn & John "Writer's Block" 3) The National "Boxer" 4) Jens Lekman "Night Falls Over Kortadela" 5) Spoon "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" 6) Okkervil River "The Stage Names" 7) Sea Wolf "Leaves In The River" 8) Radiohead "In Rainbows" 9) The Pony's "Turn The Lights Out" 10) Travis "The Boy With No Name"
TOP TEN (HONORABLE MENTION) 1) Wilco "Sky Blue Sky" 2) Handsome Furs "Plague Park" 3) Arcade Fire "Neon Bible" 4) Band of Horses "Cease to Begin" 5) The Shins "Wincing The Night Away" 6) Liars "Liars" 7) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club "Baby 81" 8) Elvis Perkins "Ash Wednesday" 9) Kings of Leon "Because Of The Times" 10) Editors "An End Has A Start"
TOP TEN (NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN) 1) Benjy Ferree "Leaving The Nest" 2) Ryan Adams "Easy Tiger" 3) Kanye West "Graduation" 4) The Tough Alliance "A New Chance" 5) Josh Ritter "The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter" 6) Andrew Bird "Armchair Apocrypha" 7) Ferreby Lionheart "Catch The Brass Ring" 8) Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew "Spirit If..." 9) Interpol "Our Love To Admire" 10) Justice "Cross"